Consequences
by bitchy brunette
Summary: My look at next week's episode. Buffy's catatonic, and Dawn's in Glory's clutches. Who can save the 'Dale?


Title: Consequences  
Summary: Idea straight from the preview of next week's (5/15) episode. Dawn is in Glory's possession, and Buffy's losing it. Who's left to save the 'Dale?   
Archive: Want it?  
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Joss, plot belongs (sort-of) to me.   
Comments: I realize that this is not going to be how the episode turns out. I just put a spin on it from what I gathered in the full two-second preview.   
Feedback: kimmie@quincymail.com  
  
  
  
  
Buffy stared at the bodies littering the shelter, her eyes glazed over. Willow looked after Glory and Dawn in alarm, her eyes shifting to the motionless Slayer sitting in a heap, like so many discarded garments. She looked at Xander helplessly. "What now?" She whispered, holding the babbling Tara's hand.   
"I could go..." Spike offered, refusing to look down at Buffy.   
"No. No, I think, oh gosh. What should we do? There's no one left to tell us what to do." Xander's face pinched together.  
"Maybe we could ask Angel, but-" Willow nodded eagerly.   
"Right! That's the only other thing we can do. Oh Goddess, why didn't we just let Ben out? What happened to him, anyway? Let's get to a phone. Can you handle Buffy?" Willow asked Xander, passing Tara to Anya.   
"Sure." He bent to his friend. "Hey Buff. Come on." He heaved her up to a standing position, and she blindly followed back into the building.   
Willow looked after the retreating gang before running off to the nearest phone.   
  
*^*^*^*  
  
"Wesley? Thank the Goddess. We need help, badly! Quick, let me talk to Angel." Wesley didn't ask questions, and quickly passed Angel the phone.   
He took it with a questioning glance. "Hello?"   
"Angel!"   
"Oh, Willow. Hi. How are-"  
"Glory's got Dawn and Buffy's all comatose you've got to come now!" She finished in one breath, belting at the top of her lungs.   
"What's wrong with Buffy?" His calm voice grew agitated as she babbled. "I'm on my way." He hung up the phone, and in a fluid motion, he grabbed Wesley and Gunn, his coat, and went out to his car, the door slamming behind them.   
  
*^*^*^*  
  
Willow chewed her nail. And then another. Finally, all she had left were ten little bald guys. She looked at them in desperation, then turned to Xander. "Can I bite your nails?"   
Xander raised an eyebrow, and his foot stopped twitching nervously. "What?"   
"I bit mine." she held the bald guys up for inspection. "I'm still nervous."   
"Well, start on your toenails. We'll see about mine after you're done with them." He replied, staring out the window. "Are they almost here yet?"   
"How should I know!" Will cried, chewing on a bald guy's head.   
Spike rushed in, smoking three cigarettes at once. "They're here." He stubbed them out with his boot, and took the vacant seats left by the Scoobies.  
Willow's eyes were huge, and she guided Buffy by the arm. "Buffy, look. Angel's here. Can you please come out to talk to him?"   
Buffy stared straight ahead. Angel came to her, his brow wrinkled in concern. "I'm here, love. Please say something. Anything." Wesley tapped Willow.   
"Give us the story."   
"Glory got Dawn, and as she was running away, Buffy just blanked. She hasn't said a word since. Giles was injured yesterday, and everything is falling apart. If we don't get Dawn back, the barriers between dimensions vanish, and all the baddies can get at us, and we can get into their worlds. Chaos ensues!" Willow finished, chewing on another one of her fingers nervously.   
"All right. Which way did Glory go?" Willow pointed, and Wesley and Gunn exchanged looks, grabbing their weapons from the car.   
"Um, bad idea. You'll need help."   
"What kind of help? Buffy and Giles are both unfit to go with us." Willow looked at him helplessly.   
"Well, you'll want to take Spike." Wesley looked at the blonde vamp puffing away on a cigarette with distaste.  
"Right. Well, come along then. If this Glory is a Goddess, we'll need some more back-up. Angel?" The group turned toward Angel, who cradled Buffy in his arms.   
"I'll be right back, Buffy. Please don't leave us." He kissed her forehead, and grabbed his axe from the car. "All right, I'm ready.  
Buffy rose from the ground, tears choking her words. "I have to go, Dawn, she needs me." The gang stared at Buffy in awe.  
Angel nodded. "Let's go."   
  
*^*^*^*  
  
Buffy sat still on the way to Glory's hideout. Angel tried to talk to her as they armed the Slayer, but she didn't speak. "All right. We're here." Buffy nodded, and Angel grabbed her as she tried to get out of the car.   
"I don't want you doing this if you can't handle it." Buffy stared at him, anger rising.   
"I can handle anything. You didn't really care how well I handled myself before, and now is not a good time to start." She yanked her arm from his grasp, only to be caught again.   
"Let go of me." She told him, her voice icy and distant.  
"Don't do anything stupid Buffy. Please." His eyes were pained, and she stopped trying to slip away from him.  
"It's my fault Dawn is with her right now. Besides, there's no one else to take care of Dawn if I die. I'll try not to get killed this time, ok?" Angel nodded, and released her arms, picking up his sword.   
"If I'm not going to die this time, neither are you." Buffy warned him just outside the door where Gunn, Spike, and Wesley waited.  
"Bloody beautiful. Now let's hurry it up." Spike muttered, flicking a butt away from him.   
The pair glared at the blonde vamp, which grinned innocently in game face. "Deal. Good luck, guys." Angel vamped out, and kicked the door open.   
Dawn was tied to a chair in the middle of the room, which was darkened. One of Glory's minions stood in each corner, and a group of armed ones rushed to meet the intruders. Angel quickly lopped off the head of the nearest man, using the body to disable another, while Wesley and Gunn took on one apiece. Buffy took out the last two. She ran to dawn, who cried out as she neared. "Don't! There's like, a force field or something." Buffy reached out, and sure enough, a shimmering green light zapped her.   
"Ow. How do we get you out?" She asked, searching around for Glory.   
"Looking for something, Slayer?" Glory crooned from the stairway.   
Wesley aimed with his crossbow, hitting her in the arm. "Ahh! Damn humans." She threw out a hand, knocking the former Watcher into a wall, rendering him unconscious.  
Spike ran to her, knocking her from the stairs. With one swift movement, he was on top of her, punching her. With a scream, Glory fisted him off, and grabbed him by the neck, flinging him away. "Get away from my key, darlin'." She called to Buffy.   
Buffy turned from Dawn, throwing a punch. Glory blocked her, and kicked, getting Buffy in the ribs. Buffy keeled, and managed to kick Glory hard enough over to Angel. Angel grabbed her, but the four demons stationed in the corners attacked, distracting him. Buffy kicked Glory again, slamming her body into a wall. Glory swept her foot along the ground, knocking Buffy off balance while she headed for the chair Dawn was strapped to. Gunn got there first, and using a chair, threw her to the ground, where Angel and Buffy held her. "Spike!" Buffy croaked through her broken ribs. "Get over here and eat something." Glory kicked and scratched, but they didn't let go, even as Spike's fangs slid into her jugular.   
"Is that enough to keep her down?" Buffy asked, wiping blood from her arm.   
"It should be. Just in case-" Angel took off her head in a quick slice.   
"Is it over?" Buffy asked, crawling over to Dawn.   
"It's over." Angel answered, his face changing back.   
Buffy tried to stand, her legs wobbling beneath her. She reached Dawn, and untied her before collapsing into Angel's arms.   
  
*^*^*^*  
  
"She's waking up." Giles announced to the people assembled at the door to Buffy's room.   
Buffy groaned quietly, feeling her left side for the cracked ribs. they had already healed, leaving only bruises to show for her daring rescue. "You're better?" She asked Giles, grimacing as she sat up.   
"I'm well enough. I heard all about Dawn. Thank heavens Glory's finally been taken care of." Buffy frowned.   
"Was that really Glory, or was it Ben?" Giles stood aside as Xander, Willow, Anya, and Dawn flanked her bedside.   
"I am so proud of you, Buffy!" Willow cried, throwing her arms around Buffy, who shrank back from her crushing embrace.   
"Yeah, because you know that coma-like state was really brave of me. Why do I keep flipping out in front of danger?" Xander grinned.   
"Maybe you're getting too old for this business." Anya nodded enthusiastically, like it was the best thing she'd ever heard.   
Angel stepped into the room, and the Scoobies made excuses as they left, each hugging her briefly. Giles too, after giving Angel a stern glare, left the room, promising to be back shortly. "Are you ok?" They chorused together.  
Buffy smiled. "Yeah."   
"Me too. Willow was right, you know. You were really brave today." Buffy shook her head.  
"What did I do, Angel? I messed up again, and we had to call for you to bail me out. I just gave up! I didn't know what to do, Giles was down, and Spike was just annoying. No one can help me. If I'm such a great slayer, why do I make so many mistakes?" Her voice began to waver.   
Angel sat beside her, concern on his face. "Buffy, you didn't make any mistakes. It's only normal to feel overwhelmed sometimes."  
"Is it normal to go into a catatonic state afterwards? I let Glory take Dawn. It was my fault, and then I couldn't even go after her, because I was too caught up in everything, as everyone seems to be putting it."  
"It wasn't your fault. Everything went fine. Business was slow in LA, anyway." Buffy glared at him.   
"I don't believe you. I'm sure you had something important to do, and someone called you, and was like, Buffy's in trouble again, and by obligation, you had to come down and take me out of the fire. It isn't fair." Angel sighed.   
"I came because I wanted to be there for you, like I promised I would. Besides, I may need help some day, and you can pay me back then." Buffy smiled wanly.  
"Right. The mouse is going to help the lion. Thank you, anyway. We couldn't have gotten Dawn back if it wasn't for you."   
"No problem." A silence ensued, long and aching.   
"So when are you leaving?" Angel frowned at the sudden change.   
"Pretty soon. We've got to beat the sun."   
"When will-"  
"Buffy, I-" They exchanged sheepish glances.  
"Go ahead." Buffy told him, settling back into her pillows.   
"I want you to know that I come because I care. If anything were to happen to you... I don't know what I would do." Buffy bit her lip and looked at him.   
"I know. I feel the same way. Next time, I'll make sure you know about what's going on. It'll just be easier if we update each other." Angel smiled at her, and he was gone.   
As she shut her eyes to go to sleep, Buffy didn't feel alone anymore.   
  



End file.
